Editorial: Next Port St. Lucie police chief must establish policy of greater communication with the public

Next chief in Port St. Lucie must establish policy of more open communication with public

Perhaps nothing could have saved 2-month-old Josiah Saintil, whose lifeless body was found in the trunk of a stolen vehicle driven by his father.

But, it must be asked if circumstances may have turned out differently if the Port St. Lucie Police Department had not acted as it so often does by withholding or delaying the public release of potentially important crime information.

According to law enforcement reports — almost all of which came from the Broward County Sheriff's Office and not from Port St. Lucie Police — Josiah Saintil, 24, of Deerfield Beach, forced the child's mother and two other people at gunpoint to travel in the stolen vehicle from North Lauderdale to Port St. Lucie on the evening of May 31. The child, who also was with them, was left at a home in Port St. Lucie.

Saintil then allegedly forced them to drive to a gas station in Port St. Lucie, where he ordered one of his victims to withdraw cash from an ATM. That individual refused and reportedly told an attendant at the station to call police to report they had been kidnapped.

Saintil then drove away, leaving the adults, but not before threatening to kill the baby. A 911 recording indicates police were called about the incident; another report said Port St. Lucie police arrived to question the kidnapping victims around 10 p.m.

Although Saintil was described as armed and dangerous, an Amber Alert to notify the public the child might be in danger was not issued until more than 12 hours later by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

A few hours later, Saintil showed up in the stolen vehicle at an apartment complex in Coral Springs, where he was arrested on kidnapping and murder charges after the child's body was found in the trunk.

Law enforcement reports indicated the child was alive when taken from Port St. Lucie and likely placed in the car's trunk on May 31 or early June 1.

This newspaper ran a story the day the child was found dead. In it Port St. Lucie Police spokesman Tom Nichols said he "did not know whether Saintil, who had an outstanding armed robbery warrant from Broward County, had ties to Port St. Lucie. He could not say where Josiah was dropped before Saintil and the others went to Hess or provide other details, citing the ongoing investigation."

The location where the child was dropped off in Port St. Lucie was subsequently identified by the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

There is a troubling pattern with the Port St. Lucie Police Department as it often refuses to release crime details to the public when the public needs to be warned about a dangerous situation or when the public might be able to provide police with information on a crime.

It's a pattern that must end.

Today, three candidates to become the next chief of police in Port St. Lucie begin four days of meetings with city officials and with the public. A failure to communicate adequately with city officials and with citizens played a role in the decision to seek a candidate for chief from outside the department. That's an encouraging sign.

Citizens and elected leaders as well as the city manager need to demand that cooperation and communication be a high priority in selecting a new chief.